AI Without the Hype · Part 7 of 10
You can recognize the kind of writing I mean. It opens with a sweeping claim about a changing world, spends three paragraphs warming up, and eventually tells you that communication is important.
Your customer asked when the job would be finished.
AI can be useful for drafting, organizing, and editing business writing. But it needs something worth saying, and someone has to decide whether the result says it well. A prompt that asks for “engaging content” leaves most of the important decisions open.
Start with the reader’s actual question and the facts you can stand behind.
Supply the substance before asking for polish
Suppose a landscaper needs to explain a weather delay. The useful input includes the reason, affected work, what is confirmed, what is still uncertain, and the next update the business can realistically provide.
Without those facts, an AI tool may produce something smooth but vague. Worse, a draft may add an assurance the company has not approved. Check for that before sending.
For an article, the same principle applies. A real buyer question, a specific example, and a defensible explanation give the draft a reason to exist. Asking for 1,000 words about innovation does not.
Give it a brief an employee could follow
Here is a fictional example you can adapt:
Draft a short customer email about a landscaping delay. The reader is a homeowner waiting for work on their patio. Heavy rain stopped the ground preparation today. We have not confirmed a new work date. We will call tomorrow afternoon after checking site conditions. Explain the situation plainly, acknowledge the inconvenience, and make the next update clear. Do not promise a completion date, invent a discount, or add facts. Keep it under 130 words. If an essential detail is missing, list the question separately.
That brief includes the job, audience, known facts, limits, format, and next step. It gives you criteria for reviewing the result.
Use examples of your own approved writing when they help explain tone. Choose samples you have permission to use, remove information the tool does not need, and say what you want it to notice: short openings, specific explanations, ordinary vocabulary, or a calm response to a complaint.
Voice comes from decisions on the page
“Sound more human” is difficult to check. “Lead with the date, use everyday words, and remove claims that do not help the reader” is more concrete.
Consider this fictional draft:
We are committed to delivering exceptional results and appreciate your patience as we navigate weather-related challenges affecting your project timeline.
A more useful version would be:
Today’s rain stopped us from preparing the ground for your patio. We’ll check the site tomorrow morning and call you tomorrow afternoon with an update.
The second version gives the reader a reason and a next step. It also sounds like something a person at the business might actually say.
You do not need every sentence to be short. You need each sentence to earn its space.
Edit in three passes
First, check facts and commitments. Confirm dates, amounts, names, descriptions, and anything that sounds like a guarantee. Open the sources behind research claims. Check that any quoted experience actually happened.
Second, check usefulness. Does the opening answer the question? Does the reader know what happens next? Remove paragraphs that could sit unchanged on almost any company’s website.
Third, read for voice. Would you say this to a sensible customer? Keep useful detail and natural variation. Remove inflated language and canned transitions. A sentence can be grammatically correct and still sound nothing like your business.
Ask the tool to help with specific edits: identify unsupported claims, shorten the introduction, or flag sentences that repeat the same point. Review those suggestions rather than accepting every change.
Never manufacture the evidence
Do not let a draft invent a customer story, testimonial, statistic, or result. If you use a made-up scenario to explain a point, label it as an example.
The FTC has brought a case involving a tool it alleged enabled fake reviews. Your editorial standard should be clear: the business must be able to support the claims it publishes, regardless of who or what helped draft them.
A useful article can explain a problem honestly without pretending you have solved it for a hundred clients.
Keep the pieces that worked
After approving a piece, save the brief and a few notes about the final edits. Over time, you can build a small reference sheet with examples of openings you like, explanations that sound right, and language you avoid.
That gives your next draft a better starting point. It also gives anyone else writing for the business a clearer standard.
Use AI to make the writing process easier. Keep responsibility for the facts, the judgment, and the words your business signs its name to.
Source
FTC: Crackdown on deceptive AI claims and schemes. All sample emails and business scenarios above are fictional.